BlackBerry wins two Govies awards for outstanding security

BlackBerry might never win an Academy Award or an Emmy (despite a great performance as supporting smartphone on CBS' Blue Bloods), but it was recently awarded two GoviesGovernment Security Awards. One was awarded to the Canadian firm for Data Security thanks to the BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES10) MDM The second award was for Access Control thanks to the iOS and Android apps Secure Work Space for BES10.

Just as the Oscars give recognition to those who had outstanding performances over the year, "the Govies honor companies for providing outstanding security products and solutions to federal, state and local governments in categories critical to security executives and decision makers." And BlackBerry took this opportunity to remind users that it is used by all seven of the G-7 countries and 10 out of 10 of the top global enterprises in the pharmaceutical, law firm and automotive industries.

A movie or Broadway play that features an award-winning actor or actress usually does boffo business at the box-office after the award is announced. Will BlackBerry be able to turn these awards into revenue?

BlackBerry won a pair of Govies for providing outstanding security products

I've been using BlackBerry for over a week
.. Z10 to be specific.
I can safely say that it is one of the best smartphones I've EVER used. It's just simply outstanding!
Both Android and iOS users are going to love it.

They're idiotic though, the OS needs some getting used to and they aren't nearly spreading the word enough about how to get basically flowing through it. If they advertise how to use the OS, people trying them in store wouldn't feel lost (I did when I tried it). The OS and devices are perfectly good but the previous management sunk the ship.

There really isn't any mobile device that has good security. The BlackBerry is probably better than the run of the mill stock-OS Android phone, but still needs some improvements. Below is just a partial list.

BlackBerry 10.1 Significant Risks

The following key risks should be read and understood before the platform is deployed.

-- The VPN has not been independently assured to Foundation Grade, and does not support some of the mandatory requirements expected from assured VPNs. Without assurance in the VPN there is a risk that data transiting from the device could be compromised.

-- The device’s native data encryption has not been independently assured to Foundation Grade, and does not support some of the mandatory requirements expected from assured full disk encryption products. Without assurance there is a risk that data stored on the device could be compromised.

-- Encryption keys protecting sensitive data in the corporate perimeter remain in device memory when the device is locked. This means that if the device is attacked while powered on and locked, keys and data on the device may be compromised without the attacker needing to know the password.

-- BlackBerry 10.1 does not use any dedicated hardware to protect its keys. If an attacker can get physical access to the device, they can extract password hashes and perform an offline brute-force attack to recover the encryption password.

-- The personal perimeter of the device cannot be managed by the enterprise, meaning that the attack surface cannot be minimised by disabling external interfaces such as Bluetooth and NFC.

-- Traffic from the personal perimeter will also bypass the enterprise VPN, negating any protections granted by corporate monitoring and filtering solutions. To avoid this for non-Wi-Fi communications, a private Access Point Name (APN) could be procured from a chosen cellular carrier and assigned to accounts using BlackBerry Balance.

-- Arbitrary applications can be installed from BlackBerry World which will run on the device. Whilst mechanisms in BlackBerry World attempt to detect and remove malicious code, and the operating system should protect enterprise data from the application, an installed application will be able to access data stored on the personal partition, and may be able to attack the boundary between the two partitions on the device if a vulnerability exists there, potentially compromising corporate data.

The risks above are non-trivial. Out of curiosity, how does BBOS 7.# (highest version like what VZW is supporting) score? Depending on the answer, that might explain why more BBOS 7 devices are selling than BBOS 10 ones.

Nah, most BlackBerry fans that are still carrying BBOS devices as opposed to BB10 devices carry them because they are looking for a device that's almost identical to the Bold. They miss the "toolbelt" (that strip of hardware send, end, etc. keys) that the bold has. I believe we will see a mass exodus of BBOS devices to BB10 devices once the Q20 debuts.

"I believe we will see a mass exodus of BBOS devices to BB10 devices once the Q20 debuts."

The device that has had its release put off until end-of-year 2014? And that BB has re-started production of the Bold 99## devices to keep sales going until the 'replacement' for the 99## starts to ship (at end-of-year 2014)?

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, there is a UI hurdle with BBOS 10 that is resulting in reduced sales of BB handsets powered by BBOS 10.

"Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, there is a UI hurdle BBOS 10 that is resulting in reduced sales of BB handsets powered by BBOS 10."

First: BBOS is BlackBerry's legacy OS (7.xx and lower). BB10 is the name of the new OS, not BBOS 10.

Second: you say this as if there is not a learning curve with any OS. People coming from, say, an iPhone to an Android phone will experience a learning curve as its two totally different OS'S, much like BB10 And BBOS.

Third: are you a BlackBerry user? Thought not. I can tell you from EXPERIENCE that the learning curve is not that great at all. There have been surveys taken on BlackBerry centric sites about this, and most BlackBerry fans want a BlackBerry 10 smartphone reminiscent of the BlackBerry Bold with BB10 running it. They miss the hardware toolbelt. They are keeping the BBOS Bold going as a "placeholder" until the release of the Q20, and BlackBerry fans will wait for it.

Let's you and I revisit this at the end of the year, and I guarantee you that you will see the BBOS holdouts moving to the Q20.

Wrong. I was a BlackBerry user. My last 'Berry was a Bold 9930 with BBOS 7. whatever (VZW edition). The 9930 was my work-issued phone. I had moved my personal phone to Android with the Droid X back in 2010. I can tell you from EXPERIENCE that the learning curve between BBOS 10 and BBOS 7 is significant. Enough for me to put the new phones back on the counter at the VZW store each time I visit.

10.2 was supposed to be this great new OS. Not from an ease of use perspective.

Maybe BB will get it right when they release the Q20 (or whatever it will be called) with the 'legacy' buttons along the bottom of the display like what is in place for the Bold 9930. But for now, calling the UI opaque is being charitable.

There is a reason BB has re-started the production line for the Bold 99##.

Anyone who has hard time transitioning from a BBOS device to a BB10 device should not be using a smartphone, IMO. The learning curve IS NOT difficult. There is even a TUTORIAL at the very beginning of all BB10 handsets, right as you are setting up the phone. How much more simple can you get? You put the new phones back on the counter, you chose Android. And the learning curve from a BBOS handset to an Android device wasn't significant? Of course it was. The learning curve between BBOS and BB10 is no more difficult than the learning curve from BBOS to Android. And that's a FACT. I'm suspecting that you were like many others and gave into the hype machine of Android.

The ONLY REASON that there are so many holdouts from BBOS is because of the hardware toolbelt and track pad. BB10 is opaque? No more than Android, my friend. And the 10.2 update was never designed to create "ease of use". It was designed to add more features, which it did in spades, and it was designed to add more productivity. The Bold line was restarted to appease the BBOS holdouts and prevent them from jumping ship before the release of the Q20, or BlackBerry Classic as it is also called. As I said before, there will be a mass exodus from BBOS to BB10 once the Q20 Classic is released, mark my words.

And you really should pick up a BB10 device and give it more than a 20 minute shot. This OS is AMAZING, and on par or greater than anything on the market today.

The BlackBerry Z30 is more than capable of competing with today's crop of smartphones. And an award like this will definitely help them move product, Mxy. If not in the consumer market, but definitely in the enterprise, government and security markets. That's what an award like this is aimed at anyway.

Even the Z10 and Q10 are more than capable of competing. The OS is just that good.

Also, how can you (or anyone) say that the current crop of BlackBerry 10 handsets can't compete when their specs are better than that other fruit flavored handset that's out? If BlackBerry can't compete with their specs, then you MUST say that the iPhone can't compete, Mxy.

It's Samsung fanboys like you that make me hate Samsung. I mean, I love Android but dam!... There are other OS's out there. Good ones. BB10 is one of them. In fact, IMO, Android and BB10 are the two best OS's on the market today. Once BlackBerry leverages the fact that BB10 is actually QNX, it's going to get very interesting.

A phone manufacturer, that was one of the kings long time ago. Wait, if you don't know that, then why you're here? Oh well, can't blame a newborn baby, you should ask your grandpa if you want to know more.

In all honesty...with security being their best selling point....companies should always use BB. I wouldnt want to switch to WP, iPhone or Android if I ran a business, especially if sensitive data, info is part of my job.

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